Rewind Boxed Set

by Rowan Shaw

  "It's not funny."

  "Okay, you're in a bad mood, I get it."

  "Sorry. I worried about him all night. I found some lithium on his nightstand table. It shouldn't be mixed with alcohol."

  She leaned her head to the side, her eyes creasing. "Lithium? Isn't that for bipolar disorder?"

  "It is, but it can also be used for depression when other treatments don't help."

  Charlotte stared at me, worry veiling her face as we sat on a bench. "Is he okay?"

  "I don't know. I was reluctant to leave him alone today."

  She patted my hand, still holding the front of her jacket with the other. "Do you want to cancel tonight?"

  "No."

  The day the owner had walked in on us, Charlotte came back after I'd texted her, but we hadn't slept together again since then. I wasn't passing on a chance to spend another night with her. She was as wild in the sack as I was, and after the hell I'd been through last night, I needed to unwind.

  "Maybe we could stay at your place? I don't feel comfortable bringing you to my dorm," she said. "This way, we could keep an eye on him, too."

  I hesitated.

  "What? It's not like we didn't do it there before," she commented.

  "Yeah, but Adrien wasn't around. When I rented the apartment, I kind of promised him I wouldn't be bringing hookups back home."

  "Raphaël, you're renting the place. You can bring a friend over if you want to."

  "He'll be pissed."

  Although, I had decided his rules were bogus when I found out he'd lied about owning the place. I didn't care how he claimed he'd never said anything like that. He'd lied by omission. Period. I didn't owe it to him to remain celibate when I was stressed as fuck and needed a release.

  "You're not giving my natural charm enough credit," Charlotte said, flashing a flirty smile. "I'm sure I can talk him into accepting me easily."

  "How modest of you!"

  She raised her chin. "Besides, you've talked about him a lot. I can't wait to meet this mysterious Adrien."

  I rolled my eyes and pursed my lips.

  "What? It's true. You talk about him so often, I might believe you have a crush on him."

  "Oh please!"

  She looked at me pointedly.

  "What?" I asked.

  "Do you? Am I right? Do you have a crush on him?"

  "What? No."

  She didn't seem convinced.

  "What? I don't."

  "I wouldn't be jealous if you did, you know? I mean, sure, we're fucking, but it's not like we're dating or anything. So far, we've spent one night together. You're allowed to see other people. I don't mind."

  "I do not have a crush on him!" I shouted a bit too loud.

  "Okay." She raised her hands. "I guess I'll be the judge of that when I see you guys interact in person."

  Great. Now Charlotte and me fucking was going to turn into her testing my attraction to Adrien. Wonderful.

  I froze when her other words clicked in my mind. "Wait! You want to see other people?"

  She shrugged. "No. I'm just saying. I mean, I'd tell you if I wanted to see other guys. But if I did, I'd hope you wouldn't have a cow about it."

  I blinked at that.

  "If you want to fuck Adrien on the side, I'm not against it. I just wanted you to know that. That's all."

  I sighed angrily. "I am not going to fuck him. Will you stop already?"

  Chapter 18

  ADRIEN

  I should have known better than to meet a new client when I was still hung over and depressed as hell. I did the best I could, but damn, that guy was an ass. Talk about demanding. I didn't even care if he was satisfied or not. I wasn't planning on working with him again.

  As if to distract me, my phone beeped when I reached my motorcycle. I put my helmet on, straddled the seat, and took a look at the screen.

  Noah: Joyeux anniversaire! I am SO sorry I forgot. We had a situation here yesterday. The sink broke in our bathroom, and one of Hugo's new clients has been trying to stir up some crap.

  Me: What kind of crap?

  Noah: She's furious because he wouldn't sleep with her. She came on to him out of nowhere. It's ridiculous. Everyone in the profession knows he's gay.

  Me: What's going to happen?

  Noah: She fired him. Anyway, so what are your plans for the night?

  Me: Going home. I'm exhausted.

  Noah: Will I see you soon?

  Me: I sure hope so.

  Noah: I miss you.

  I gave a faint smile.

  Me: Things have been a bit crazy.

  Noah: I hope you rest well. I'll call Daniel soon. I have to wait until Hugo is past his foul mood...

  Me: Gotcha.

  I sure didn't want to be anywhere near Hugo when he was pissed off. I didn't need him to punish my ass because someone else had rubbed him the wrong way.

  Noah: I'll text you again soon. Bonne nuit!

  Me: Night.

  After pocketing my cell phone, I closed my visor and drove my motorcycle through Paris. It was dark out, the freezing wind blowing against my leather jacket as I passed the various bars, most of their patrons standing outside to smoke and chat. I reached my building in twenty minutes and parked in the garage, only to be greeted by feminine moans the moment I pushed open my apartment door around midnight. They were distinctively coming from the living room.

  I paused and clicked my tongue. I thought Raphaël and I had an agreement that he wouldn't bring his hook-ups here. He'd picked the wrong night to test me. I needed to sleep, and the last thing I wanted was to hear him fuck his girl all night long.

  I rubbed my mouth through a sigh and shook my head as I kicked my shoes off. Ila came out of the kitchen and rubbed against my leg.

  "Did Raphaël lock you in here?" There was no way for her to access my room if the hallway door was closed. I picked her up and scratched her chin, making her purr.

  I kissed her soft fur and took her back to the kitchen, where I fed her some ham, then made myself a late snack, hoping I'd be noisy enough that Raphaël and his guest would stop fucking. Ravenous, I leaned with my ass against the counter and bit into my ham and Swiss cheese sandwich. It took me under five minutes to finish it and decide I needed another one. I was about to head to the fridge when a woman showed up at the entrance.

  "Oh, sorry. I was coming for some water." She looked behind her and then at me. "Raphaël said you weren't home."

  With that, she grabbed the long t-shirt she was wearing and pulled it down to her knees.

  I averted my eyes. One glimpse had been enough for me to tell she was beautiful beyond belief.

  "I came home earlier than planned," was all I replied. She didn't need to know all the details of my fucked-up life. "You hungry?"

  "I am," Raphaël called from the hall before he showed his handsome face. His eyes shifted between me and the woman still trying to hide her thighs. "Adrien, this is my classmate Charlotte. Charlotte, meet my roommate, Adrien."

  She held out her hand for a firm shake, her skin soft and warm when it touched my palm.

  "What d'you want to eat?" I asked Raphaël.

  "Whatever you're willing to make."

  I nodded. "D'you want anything, Charlotte?"

  She shook her head. "Just some water, please."

  I rifled through the bottom cabinet and handed her a small bottle that she drank in one go. I watched her gulp it all down before I made a ham and veggie sandwich for Raphaël and one for myself. I joined him at the table and raised one of my legs against my chest, my foot on the chair while I ate.

  "I thought you were coming back late," Raphaël commented when Charlotte sat down.

  "I had a change of plans."

  "Sorry if you heard us."

  Charlotte flushed a deep red and avoided my eyes.

  "Nothing I've never heard before," I replied. "Though I thought we had an agreement."

  I arched an eyebrow at him, but he never dropped his stare. He bit into hi
s sandwich and talked around a mouthful. "I'm renting this place. Either it's my home or it's not. You said that Daniel guy didn't matter, so I thought that rule didn't either."

  I let out a long sigh. To be honest, Charlotte's presence didn't bother me much as long as Raphaël was going to be serious with her. I didn't want a bunch of random people showing up at my apartment for him to fuck. There were hotels for that.

  "It's fine."

  Ila chose that moment to interrupt us and rub against Charlotte's chair, catching her attention.

  "Oh you're so pretty," she exclaimed and picked up my cat without fear. To my surprise, Ila didn't try to maul her. She settled in Charlotte's lap comfortably and purred.

  "Well, finally someone this cat likes," Raphaël exclaimed.

  "She likes me too," I commented, laughing.

  He rolled his eyes and finished his sandwich while Charlotte watched our interactions. It was strange and disconcerting how her eyes kept gearing between the two of us. When I flashed her a smile to let her know I was on to her little game, she gave me a tight-lipped grin, then focused on Ila.

  I was still hungry, so I made myself a small tomato salad and wished them both a good night before heading to my room, where I ate alone, then turned on the TV to watch some soft core porn. If Raphaël and Charlotte were going at it again, I couldn't tell. I undid my pants and slid my hand under my briefs when the guy on TV pretended to penetrate the girl. It all looked fake, like most soft core porn on public television. It didn't prevent me from getting hard, though. Personally, I preferred watching the real stuff online, but I was too lazy to get my laptop.

  I grabbed my cock and took it out, stroking it slowly at first, then faster until I burst my load all over my stomach, too tired to even clean myself up. I fell asleep with my dick still in my hand, spread naked on my comforter for a night filled with nightmares.

  Chapter 19

  RAPHAËL

  The next day, I was reluctant to go grocery shopping with Adrien. The guy didn't seem to understand I couldn't afford all the pricey organic food he liked to get. I'd tried to explain that to him, so he'd offered to pay for his things and me for mine. We'd divided the fridge in two, and we'd tried sticking to that idea multiple times, but when we got home, it was always the same thing: Adrien cooked for us, and I always ended up eating his food.

  Though I'd managed to land a job at the bakery, I barely made enough to cover everything. My dad had offered to help, but I hated to mooch off my parents. It made me feel even worse that Adrien didn't even speak to his relatives or rely on them for anything. I still didn't know how he could possibly make that much dough with his job. I'd asked him what studies he had done, figuring I might change my course if there was a way to get a job as good as his, but he'd laughed in my face. He told me what he did wasn't something you learned; you had to be a natural at it. Whatever that even meant.

  I sighed when I saw him pick some fresh ravioli and wondered why he refused to buy canned goods. But I had to remember this was a guy who fed his cat tuna and ham every day like she was some damn princess, so he sure wasn't going to eat crap himself.

  When we approached the dairy section, I had to excuse myself to reach the chocolate yogurts I wanted because some guy and his girl were standing right in front of the aisle.

  When they turned around, Adrien's eyes shifted toward the girl's shirt that displayed our bisexual colors: pink, purple, and blue.

  He raised his chin at her. "Nice shirt you got there."

  The woman gave a broad smile. "Thanks. I got it online during Pride month."

  "You went to Pride?" he asked, smiling.

  "Yes, it was the best. Not enough bi flags around, though."

  Adrien's gaze moved toward the couple's intertwined hands. "Are you bi too?" he asked the guy.

  I widened my eyes at him and nudged his elbow. "Don't ask him that!" I hissed. "It's rude."

  The guy shook his head. "No, man, I'm straight, obviously."

  I barely had time to react when Adrien's friendly grin thinned into a line before he shot back, "How would I be able to tell? And even straight, you could be transgender. How am I supposed to know?"

  The guy didn't seem to hear the threat under the tone. "Dude, I'm a real man, first of all. And I look straight, obviously."

  Adrien stared at him for a second. "There's no such thing as 'looking straight.' And what do you mean by 'a real man'?"

  "Of course there’s such a thing. Like, I can tell you two are straight as well." He snickered, seeking his girlfriend's gaze for confirmation, like his point was so obvious we were stupid not to get it. His girlfriend didn't seem to appreciate the joke all that much, though. She frowned at him, then glimpsed at me, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment.

  Adrien gave a laugh too—a truly unkind one. "You think I'm straight?"

  He raised an eyebrow—the same damn cocky action he reserved for those he meant to put down. He had used that exact look on me a few times, and I fucking hated it when he did that.

  The guy squinted his eyes like he was trying to figure out some puzzle. "Dude, I can tell you're straight. You're not, you know..."

  "No, I don't know. I'm not what?"

  "Well, you know... You're not effeminate." He whispered the last word like that would make it any better to use.

  For his response, Adrien turned to me and whispered in my ear, "I'm going to kiss you right now. If you don't want me to, push me away."

  I gave a confused nod before I could even process what I was doing, and he pulled me into a kiss so deep I couldn't catch my breath. To my surprise, the kiss lasted, and I didn't want it to stop. He was as good a kisser as I'd imagined he would be—soft yet demanding.

  I stood there, stunned by the kiss even after Adrien sneered at the guy upon pulling back. "Not straight at all, man. Obviously, your ‘dar is dysfunctional."

  The guy raised his hands. "I just assumed. Dude, I'm letting my girl wear this shirt, so obviously, I'm cool with your lifestyle and all. Why d'you have to be such a dick about it?"

  My eyes widened when the muscles twitched in Adrien's jaw, his mouth curling into a sarcastic smirk. "You let her wear that shirt? Man, she's her own person. She doesn't need your fucking permission to be queer."

  The girl bit her lip to hide a grin, giving a tiny nod. The guy, though, seemed ready to throw a punch, his face red.

  "Do you even realize what courage it took her to put that shirt on this morning?" Adrien asked. "Most of us are terrified of coming out or wearing anything that might brand us as queer. When queer people go out wearing a shirt that clearly identifies them as such, it is a real act of bravery. It's not a game. It's not for fun. You're dating a queer, and you don't even know that?"

  I lowered my head, ready to hide and scram.

  The guy stared at Adrien, his eyes creased in a threat. His jaw ticked as his stance grew defensive. "I don't like that you're calling me a bigot, man."

  "Well, I hate to break it to you, man, but you are a bigot. Stereotyping us like you just did, calling me straight just because I don't fit into your stereotypical views of what a queer man should look like. That's profiling. That's a tactic our haters use against us to attack us. And it hurts all of us—your girlfriend included."

  The guy flicked his hand. "Forget it!"

  He squeezed his girlfriend's hand and stormed away. The woman sent a quick look at us over her shoulder and mouthed, "Merci," then followed her boyfriend reluctantly.

  "Connard," Adrien growled under his breath.

  "You could have been nicer," I said. "Now, you got an ally against us. We really don't need this."

  Adrien shot me the nastiest glare. "That guy is no ally."

  "He's dating a queer."

  "So what? You think that makes him an ally?" he snapped. "'Oh, I can't be a bigot. I have a lot of queer friends.'" He huffed. "Give me a break!"

  I ground my teeth. "You made the whole community look bad and got us one more enemy."

  "His g
irlfriend seemed to concur with me."

  "He's agreed to go to Pride and march with her, though, so obviously, he's supportive."

  "Right. He went to Pride having no compassion for our community. That guy knows nothing about us or our struggles, even if his girl is queer. Even when I brought up our issues, he got all defensive and made it about himself. Do you know how many people died so we could attend Pride, Raphaël? Do you even understand the meaning of that event? It's not for people like him to attend like he's going to some freak show while telling guys like me I fucking look straight and making asinine comments about being a real man. Literally, what the fuck? And what the fuck is wrong with you thinking that's okay?"

  "Are you saying cishets shouldn't attend Pride?"

  "I didn't say that. I said that if they do, they should show us some respect, that's all. Pride is our event, our safe space. I'm curious to know how often that guy gaslights his girlfriend or berates her, worried she might cheat because she's bi."

  "You're pushing it, really." Sadly, no matter what I said, he was right. I'd met my fair share of girls who freaked out when I told them I wasn't straight.

  "I bet he thinks people like us shouldn't get to enjoy sex."

  I scrunched my face at him.

  "You know it's true. If you and I were straight, we’d be expected to love sex and be open about it. But because we're bi, we're held to different standards. For some reason, we're not allowed to love dick or pussy too much. That's the whole stigma of our community. How is that fair? Why should bisexuals enjoy sex any less than other people? Just because straight media portrayed us as untrustworthy, cheating jerks for decades. We queers are so obsessed with proving to straight people we're only human just like them, we almost forget to live sometimes."

  "That guy never said otherwise," I protested.

  "Maybe, but he didn't care to listen to our problems either. Being queer isn't a game, Raphaël. It's not all fun and fucking rainbows. I won't pretend queers have it easy in life just because it makes other people uncomfortable."

  I had to admit he had a point. In spite of his rude behavior, I couldn't completely blame him for being upset. To Adrien, being queer seemed like a big deal—a bigger deal than it should have been.